Half of every minute a user spends on Instagram is spent watching Reels. That single fact — reported by Meta in late 2024 — is the clearest explanation for why Instagram is now redesigning its entire app around short-form video.
In early 2025, app researcher @howfxr shared screenshots on X (formerly Twitter) revealing a new Instagram interface under development. The design is a significant departure from the current layout: it opens directly to the Reels feed, introduces a new “Your Feeds” center accessible from the bottom navigation bar, and gives users six different ways to consume Reels content. Combined with a bottom navigation bar restructure that moves Reels and DMs into primary positions, the update is the clearest signal yet that Instagram is engineering its product around where its users already spend most of their time. Source: Social Media Today
For brands, this is not a cosmetic change to observe from the sidelines. It is a structural shift in how Instagram surfaces content, who sees it, and how advertising inventory is allocated. This post breaks down exactly what the new design entails, what the data says about Reels’ dominance, what it means for brand content strategy, and what you need to do about it right now.
What Instagram’s New Design Actually Looks Like
The updated design was first documented by app researcher @howfxr in a post on X, who shared screenshots of an interface Instagram is currently testing. While Meta has not formally announced a global rollout date, the design reflects patterns that align closely with what Instagram chief Adam Mosseri described in September 2025 when announcing the app’s broader redesign direction.
The Default Reels Feed
The most significant change is that the app would open directly to the Reels feed — not the traditional photo-and-video home feed that has been the default since Instagram’s early days. For users who have been spending the majority of their time in Reels, this means the app greets them with the content they actually use most. For everyone else, it represents Instagram explicitly repositioning what it considers its core product. Source: Social Media Today
This is not a completely new experiment. Instagram has previously tested opening to the Reels feed for users whose in-app behavior showed they spent more time on Reels than on anything else. What is new is the scale of the experiment and the accompanying feed customization features that come with it.
The “Your Feeds” Center
In the middle of the bottom navigation bar, Instagram would place a new icon that opens what is being called the “Your Feeds” center. This is a hub where users can see and switch between multiple distinct Reels feed options, all from a single access point.
Users can tap to enter the center or swipe between feeds directly. The six feed options currently being tested are:
- Following — Reels from accounts the user already follows
- Friends — Reels from people the user is mutually connected with
- Latest — Reels sorted by recency rather than algorithmic ranking
- Saved — Reels the user has bookmarked
- Favorites — Reels from accounts the user has marked as favorites
- Suggested — Reels from accounts outside the user’s network, driven by Instagram’s recommendation engine
This structure gives users both algorithmic and chronological options within a single video-centric interface. It also directly echoes the kind of feed control that users have requested for years — the ability to see recent content from people they follow without having it mixed with algorithmic recommendations. Instagram is delivering that, but doing so entirely within the Reels framework.
The Redesigned Bottom Navigation Bar
Separately from the Your Feeds center update, Adam Mosseri announced in September 2025 that Instagram is restructuring the bottom navigation bar across the app. The new layout replaces the current five icons — Home, Search/Explore, Create (+), Reels, Profile — with: Home, Reels, DMs, Search/Explore, and Profile.
The dedicated post-creation button is being removed from the bottom bar. Users will still be able to post, but through an icon repositioned to the top-left of the screen. The shift places two of Instagram’s highest-engagement surfaces — Reels and DMs — directly in the primary navigation row, making them one tap away at all times.
Mosseri’s explanation was straightforward: “Almost all of our growth has been driven by DMs, Reels, and recommendations.” The navigation redesign is Instagram building its interface around that reality.
The Numbers Behind the Shift: Why Instagram Is Betting on Reels
The design changes described above did not emerge from aesthetic preferences. They are a direct response to measurable usage patterns that have been building for years and accelerated sharply in 2024 and 2025.
Time Spent on Reels
In late 2024, Meta disclosed that 50% of all time spent on Instagram was dedicated to Reels consumption. By 2025, Sensor Tower data provided to CNBC showed that Reels accounted for 46% of time spent on the Instagram app in the U.S., up from 37% in 2024. On Facebook, the comparable figure reached 29% in 2025. Source: CNBC, January 2026
These figures mean that on the most popular photo-sharing app ever built, video content now commands more attention than everything else combined.
Daily Volume
The scale of Reels activity is difficult to overstate. According to Meta’s official data for businesses, users share 3.5 billion Reels per day across Instagram and Facebook. Source: Facebook for Business
Reels generate between 140 and 200 billion daily plays, a figure that covers both Instagram and Facebook combined and includes content shown via recommendation feeds. According to Instagram’s official business resources, Reels are played more than 140 billion times daily — a 50% increase from the prior six-month period.
Advertising Revenue
The advertising industry has followed user attention into Reels. In 2025, more than 50% of all Instagram ads ran on Reels — up from 35% in 2024, according to Sensor Tower data. Reels ad volume grew 35% year-over-year. [Source: Sensor Tower via CNBC]
In October 2025, Mark Zuckerberg announced during Meta’s earnings call that Reels across Instagram and Facebook had surpassed a $50 billion annual run rate — more annual revenue than Netflix generates. That is a remarkable shift for a format that Zuckerberg himself said in 2023 was monetizing significantly below the main feed.
Platform Scale
Instagram crossed 3 billion monthly active users in September 2025, a milestone announced by Adam Mosseri. In his announcement, Mosseri attributed the growth explicitly: “If you look at the last few years, almost all of that growth has been driven by DMs, Reels, and recommendations.” [Source: TechCrunch, September 2025]
That statement is the thesis behind the design update. Instagram is not reorganizing its app because of a trend — it is reorganizing its app because its growth data has told it, unambiguously, what its users value most.
The Competitive Context
Instagram launched Reels in August 2020 as a direct response to TikTok’s rapidly growing short-form video format. In the years since, Reels has grown from a feature into the platform’s primary growth engine. Despite that trajectory, Instagram users still average 55 minutes per day on the app — compared to TikTok’s 81 minutes and YouTube’s 80 minutes, according to Sensor Tower. Closing that gap is one of the stated drivers behind Instagram’s continued investment in Reels. [Source: CNBC]
The “Your Feeds” Center and “Your Algorithm” Feature: More User Control
The “Your Feeds” center and a separate feature called “Your Algorithm” — launched in December 2025 — together represent Instagram’s most significant push toward user-controlled content discovery.
How the Your Feeds Center Works
Rather than a single algorithmic feed, users would be able to move between six distinct feed types — Following, Friends, Latest, Saved, Favorites, and Suggested — within a unified Reels-centric interface. This addresses one of the most persistent complaints about Instagram: the mixing of algorithmic recommendations with content from people users actually chose to follow.
By giving users a “Latest” feed (chronological) and a “Friends” feed (close connections) alongside the “Suggested” feed (recommendations), Instagram is effectively acknowledging that not every user wants the same experience. At the same time, all six options are Reels feeds — the format remains non-negotiable.
The “Your Algorithm” Feature
In December 2025, Instagram launched “Your Algorithm,” a settings feature that allows users to see what topics the algorithm believes they are interested in — and to add, remove, or adjust those topics. The feature is currently available within the Reels tab, with plans to expand across other Instagram surfaces. Source: ALM Corp Instagram Algorithm Update, December 2025
The feature works by surfacing a breakdown of interest categories Instagram has assigned to the user based on their watch history, engagement patterns, and search behavior. Users can:
- Add interest categories they want more of
- Remove categories they want less of
- Adjust the intensity of certain content types
- Reset their recommendations entirely
What This Means for Brands
When users can actively prune the topics and creators that appear in their feeds, content that lacks a clear niche becomes easier to remove. A brand that posts product launches one week, memes the next, and behind-the-scenes content the week after that gives the algorithm — and the user — no clear category to place it in.
Topic clarity is no longer a strategic preference. Under the “Your Algorithm” framework, it is a prerequisite for sustained distribution. Brands need to establish 2 to 3 consistent content pillars and produce Reels content that the algorithm can reliably categorize. The accounts that the algorithm can identify and place accurately are the ones that end up in the right users’ feeds.
What This Means for the Algorithm: How Reels Are Actually Ranked
Understanding Instagram’s design update requires understanding the ranking signals that determine which Reels appear in which feeds. Instagram’s algorithm evaluates multiple signals when deciding how widely to distribute a Reel.
Watch Time
Watch time is the most heavily weighted ranking signal for Reels. Instagram’s algorithm considers:
- Completion rate — the percentage of users who watch a Reel to the end
- Rewatch behavior — whether users replay the video
- Relative watch time — how much of the video was watched, not just total seconds
Reels that hold attention through to completion — or better, prompt replays — are distributed more aggressively. This is why the first 1 to 3 seconds of a Reel are disproportionately important. If users swipe away in the first few seconds, the algorithm registers low completion rates and limits distribution.
Sends and Shares
Shares via direct message are the highest-value engagement signal on Instagram. When a user sends a Reel to a friend, it tells Instagram the content was compelling enough to act on, not just scroll past. The algorithm weights DM sends above likes, comments, and even saves when evaluating content quality.
Instagram distinguishes between different types of shares: DM sends to close connections carry the most weight, followed by Story reshares, external link shares, and link copies. Brands that create content specifically designed to be shared — whether through relatability, humor, utility, or emotional resonance — receive a structural distribution advantage.
Likes Per Reach
Beyond raw like counts, Instagram now evaluates the ratio of likes to reach — what percentage of users who saw the content engaged with it. This metric controls for account size and ensures that engagement quality, not just volume, factors into distribution decisions.
Reach Performance vs. Photos
The performance gap between Reels and static photo posts is well-documented. According to a Socialinsider study, Instagram Reels have an average reach rate of 30.81%, compared to approximately 13.14% for photos. Buffer’s analysis of millions of Instagram posts found that Reels generate 2.25 times more reach than single-photo posts. [Source: Socialinsider; Buffer]
For brands still centered on photo-based content, those numbers represent a significant and measurable cost in audience reach.
Early Access Reels and Trial Reels
Instagram has introduced two testing-phase features relevant to how content is distributed.
Early Access Reels allow creators to give followers exclusive access to a Reel for 24 hours before it is released publicly. During the exclusive window, the content builds engagement concentrated among existing followers — strong early signals that, when the Reel opens to broader audiences, indicate high content quality to the algorithm.
Trial Reels are shown to non-followers first, allowing brands to test experimental content without risking the engagement rates that followers see. If the trial content performs well with non-followers, Instagram distributes it more broadly. This feature is particularly useful for testing new content formats before committing them to a brand’s main content strategy.
The Competitive Landscape: Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts
Instagram’s Reels investment exists within a three-way competition for short-form video attention that shows no sign of stabilizing.
Time Spent: The Core Battleground
According to Sensor Tower, daily time spent on the three major short-form platforms in 2025 breaks down as follows:
| Platform | Average Daily Time Spent |
|---|---|
| TikTok | 81 minutes |
| YouTube | 80 minutes |
| 55 minutes |
Instagram trails both TikTok and YouTube in daily engagement time. Closing that gap — or at minimum preventing it from widening — is a primary driver of the Reels-first design update. Every design decision that reduces friction between opening Instagram and watching Reels is an attempt to increase time-in-app.
YouTube Shorts vs. Reels
YouTube Shorts watch time was flat in 2025, according to Sensor Tower data provided to CNBC. This is a meaningful data point: despite YouTube’s scale and the integration of Shorts into one of the most-visited websites on earth, Shorts did not gain ground on Reels in terms of time spent. Meanwhile, Instagram’s daily active users grew 2% year-over-year, led by increased Reels usage.
Neuberger Berman senior research analyst Dan Flax attributed part of Instagram’s Reels advantage to its AI-powered recommendation engine: “What Meta has done incredibly well with Reels is that they have gotten better and better with the recommendation engines.” [Source: CNBC]
The TikTok Factor
TikTok still leads in time spent per user — 81 minutes per day compared to Instagram’s 55 minutes. Instagram launched Reels in 2020 explicitly to compete with TikTok, and five years later the gap has narrowed but not closed. Instagram’s response has been to deepen the product investment rather than concede the segment: the Reels-first design update, the Your Algorithm feature, the Instagram TV app on Amazon Fire TV (launched December 2025), and the continued development of Reels monetization tools are all part of a sustained competitive strategy.
The Monetization Picture
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg noted in 2023 that Reels monetized at a significantly lower rate than Instagram’s main feed — a trade-off that required careful management. By Q3 2025, Reels had surpassed a $50 billion annual run rate, demonstrating that the monetization gap has largely been bridged through scale. Reels now make up more than 50% of Instagram’s ad inventory. The format that once represented a monetization risk has become Meta’s primary advertising surface.
What Instagram’s New Design Means for Brands and Marketers
The cumulative weight of the design update, usage data, and algorithm changes points in one direction: brands that treat Reels as a supplementary content format — something to post occasionally alongside photos and carousels — are operating with a structural disadvantage on the platform.
Here are the five strategic shifts that the data supports.
1. Treat Reels as the Primary Content Vehicle
Given that Reels now command 46% of time spent on Instagram in the U.S., achieve 30.81% average reach rates, and account for more than 50% of all Instagram ad inventory, they are no longer a secondary format. For brands allocating content production resources, Reels should receive a proportionate share of time, budget, and creative attention.
This does not mean abandoning photos or carousels. Instagram’s own data and Adam Mosseri’s repeated statements confirm that photo content remains part of the platform’s product roadmap. But for content that is meant to reach new audiences — non-followers, potential customers, users who have not yet encountered the brand — Reels is where that reach lives.
2. Optimize for Watch Time From the First Second
The ranking algorithm’s heaviest weighting on watch time means the hook matters more than any other element of a Reel. The first 1 to 3 seconds determine whether the algorithm considers the content worth distributing. A Reel that fails to hold attention in its opening moments will be shown to fewer people regardless of its quality from the fourth second onward.
Effective opening hooks are specific, not vague. They make a promise the viewer wants fulfilled — a counterintuitive claim, a striking visual, a direct statement of what the next 30 seconds will deliver. Generic openings that ease into the content do not perform well in a feed environment where the swipe is one thumb movement away.
3. Build Content Designed to Be Shared
Since DM sends carry more algorithmic weight than any other engagement signal, the question “would a user send this to someone?” should be part of every Reels creative brief. Content that triggers sharing tends to fall into a few categories: it is relatable enough that viewers immediately think of a specific person, it delivers information the viewer wants someone else to have, it is funny enough to send as entertainment, or it is useful enough to save for later reference.
Brands that create value-first content — educational Reels, behind-the-scenes process videos, useful tutorials — tend to generate higher share rates than brands that lead with promotional messaging. The 80/20 principle applies here: 80% of Reels should deliver value to the viewer; 20% can carry promotional intent.
4. Use the New Feed Categories Strategically
The six feed options in the “Your Feeds” center — Following, Friends, Latest, Saved, Favorites, Suggested — have different algorithmic underpinnings and reach profiles. Content in the “Following” feed reaches existing followers; content in the “Suggested” feed reaches new audiences based on recommendation signals.
Brands can influence placement by building the right engagement behaviors. Encouraging existing followers to save Reels adds content to their “Saved” feed. Encouraging follows and close-friend designations increases presence in “Friends” and “Favorites” feeds. And producing high-quality content that performs well with existing followers provides the algorithm with strong signals to push it into “Suggested” feeds for non-followers.
5. Commit to Topic Clarity
The “Your Algorithm” feature’s introduction means that Instagram users can now actively remove content topics they do not want to see. For brands, this accelerates the importance of niche consistency.
A brand’s Instagram content strategy should be organized around 2 to 3 clear content pillars that are closely related. A fitness equipment company might anchor to home workout routines, nutrition guidance, and training technique. A software brand might anchor to productivity tips, industry insights, and product demonstrations. The clearer the topical identity, the more precisely Instagram’s algorithm can categorize the brand — and the less likely users are to prune it from their interest lists.
Reels Content Best Practices for 2025
The strategy shifts above are supported by a set of production and publishing practices that the current algorithm favors.
Format and Dimensions Instagram’s current optimal aspect ratio for Reels is 9:16 vertical (1080 x 1920 pixels). The platform also accepts 4:5 for feed-visible posts. Filming in vertical format from the start — rather than cropping horizontal footage — produces better visual quality and full-screen presentation.
Video Length The sweet spot for Reels in 2025 is between 30 and 60 seconds for most content types. Very short Reels (7 to 15 seconds) can achieve high completion rates and work well for hooks or quick-hit content. Reels over 90 seconds see meaningful drops in completion rate unless watch time is exceptional. Instagram extended its maximum Reel length to 3 minutes in early 2025, but longer formats require sustained narrative quality to hold attention.
Captions and Text Instagram’s algorithm reads the text in captions, on-screen text, and auto-generated closed captions to categorize content. Writing keyword-rich captions in natural language — not hashtag strings — helps the algorithm understand what a Reel is about and match it to relevant user interest profiles. Closed captions also improve accessibility and keep viewers engaged in sound-off environments.
Audio Strategy Trending audio provides a discoverability boost in Instagram’s Reels feeds. The optimal window to use trending audio is within the first 24 to 72 hours of its rise, before it becomes oversaturated. Original audio, while less immediately viral, builds creator-specific audience associations and is not subject to licensing restrictions.
Hashtags Since Instagram removed hashtag following in December 2024, hashtags carry reduced algorithmic weight. The current best practice is 3 to 5 highly relevant hashtags per post, focused on niche relevance rather than volume. Keyword placement in the caption itself now matters more than hashtag quantity.
Watermarks Instagram’s algorithm applies reduced distribution to content that carries a TikTok watermark or other third-party app branding. Content cross-posted from TikTok without removing the watermark consistently underperforms relative to natively produced Reels. Brands repurposing content across platforms should edit out any competing platform’s branding before uploading to Instagram.
Posting Frequency Buffer’s analysis of posting frequency suggests that brands posting 3 to 5 times per week on Instagram experience approximately 2x the follower growth rate of brands posting once or twice. Daily posting produces the highest growth but requires a sustainable content production system. Starting at 3 to 4 quality Reels per week and building from there is the evidence-based approach.
Engagement in the First Hour The first hour after publishing a Reel is disproportionately important for algorithmic distribution. Responding to comments, engaging with DMs, and posting follow-up Stories during this window generates activity signals that Instagram interprets as high-quality content. Brands that post and walk away leave performance on the table.
Looping Content Reels that loop seamlessly — where the final frame connects back to the opening — accumulate rewatches because viewers may not immediately register the loop. Rewatches add to total watch time and signal high content quality. This technique is particularly effective for short, conceptually elegant Reels.
What Instagram Is Planning Next
The design update described in the Social Media Today report is one step in a longer product roadmap, not a one-time change. Several signals point to where Instagram is heading. Source: Social Media Today
Based on Mosseri’s public statements and Instagram’s trajectory through 2025, the following developments are expected in the near term:
- The “Your Algorithm” feature will expand from the Reels tab to Feed and Explore, giving users broader control over all recommendation surfaces.
- More granular interest category controls will allow users to tune their feeds at a more specific level than broad topic categories.
- Enhanced creator analytics will show more precisely why individual pieces of content performed above or below baseline.
- AI-powered content suggestions will help creators identify what their specific audience responds to, based on historical performance signals.
- Trial content features will evolve to include structured A/B testing capabilities.
The Instagram TV app, launched on Amazon Fire TV in December 2025, is a meaningful signal about Instagram’s long-term product direction. Reels are now designed to be consumed on televisions, not only on mobile devices. That shift has implications for content production standards — higher production quality, landscape or vertical compatibility, and audio that holds up on a living room speaker.
Adam Mosseri has maintained that photos are not being eliminated from the Instagram experience. That commitment is credible: Instagram’s photo-sharing identity still drives significant engagement, and static posts and carousels continue to perform well for brands with strong visual identities. But photos operate in a product environment where Reels holds the primary distribution advantage, the primary advertising advantage, and — increasingly — the primary navigation position. Brands that stay photo-only are not being removed from Instagram; they are simply competing at a structural disadvantage in every feed they appear in.
Detailed FAQ
Q1: What is Instagram’s new design update in 2025?
Instagram is testing a redesigned interface that opens the app to the Reels feed by default, rather than the traditional home feed. The update includes a new “Your Feeds” center accessible via a new icon in the bottom navigation bar, which gives users six customizable Reels feed options: Following, Friends, Latest, Saved, Favorites, and Suggested. The bottom navigation bar is also being restructured to prominently feature Reels and DMs, replacing the dedicated post-creation button with positions for those two surfaces. The update has been documented by app researcher @howfxr on X and aligns with direction announced by Instagram head Adam Mosseri in September 2025. Source: Social Media Today
Q2: What is the “Your Feeds” center on Instagram?
The “Your Feeds” center is a new hub in Instagram’s updated design, accessed by tapping a new icon positioned in the middle of the bottom navigation bar. It gives users a central place to browse and switch between multiple distinct Reels feed types. From this center, users can also swipe directly between feeds without returning to the navigation bar. The six feed options currently being tested are Following, Friends, Latest, Saved, Favorites, and Suggested. This represents a significant expansion of user control over what appears in the Reels feed.
Q3: Will Instagram’s home feed change to Reels by default?
Instagram is currently testing a version of the app that opens to the Reels feed rather than the traditional home feed. This has not been officially announced as a permanent global change, but it aligns with prior tests in which Instagram opened to Reels for users who spent more time on Reels than on other content. Given that Reels accounted for 46% of time spent on Instagram in the U.S. in 2025 and 50% globally in late 2024, the product logic for making Reels the default is consistent with user behavior data.
Q4: How does the new Instagram navigation bar work?
Instagram is restructuring its bottom navigation bar from the current layout — Home, Search/Explore, Create (+), Reels, Profile — to a new layout: Home, Reels, DMs, Search/Explore, and Profile. The dedicated post-creation button is being moved to the top-left of the screen. This change places Instagram’s two highest-engagement surfaces, Reels and direct messaging, in the primary navigation row. The change was announced by Adam Mosseri in September 2025 when Instagram reached 3 billion monthly active users.
Q5: Why is Instagram prioritizing Reels over photos?
Instagram’s prioritization of Reels is driven by usage data. In late 2024, Meta disclosed that 50% of all time spent on Instagram was spent on Reels. In 2025, Reels accounted for 46% of time spent in the U.S. alone. Users reshare 3.5 billion Reels daily across Instagram and Facebook. Reels also reached a $50 billion annual run rate, and more than 50% of all Instagram ads ran on Reels in 2025. Instagram chief Adam Mosseri attributed almost all of the platform’s user growth to Reels, DMs, and recommendations. The design changes reflect what the data already shows about user behavior.
Q6: How do Instagram Reels perform compared to photo posts?
According to a Socialinsider study, Instagram Reels have an average reach rate of 30.81%, compared to approximately 13.14% for photo posts. Buffer’s analysis of millions of Instagram posts found that Reels generate 2.25 times more reach than single-photo posts. In terms of ad inventory, Reels now account for more than 50% of all Instagram ads, while photo-based feed placements have declined as a share of total inventory.
Q7: How many daily Reels views does Instagram get?
According to Instagram’s official business resources, Reels are played more than 140 billion times daily across Instagram and Facebook. Some estimates, including data cited by NewswireJet and Virvid in 2025, place the combined daily figure at between 140 and 200 billion plays when cross-platform activity is included. Meta separately disclosed that users reshare 3.5 billion Reels per day.
Q8: What is the “Your Algorithm” feature on Instagram?
“Your Algorithm” is a settings feature launched in December 2025 that shows users what topics Instagram’s recommendation system believes they are interested in, based on their watch history and engagement patterns. Users can add, remove, or adjust interest categories to customize what Reels appear in their feed. The feature is currently available for the Reels tab and is expected to expand to other Instagram surfaces. For brands and creators, this means that content without a clear topical identity is easier for users to remove from their recommendation profile. Niche consistency and topic clarity become more important as a result.
Q9: How should brands adapt their content strategy for Instagram’s Reels-first design?
Brands should make Reels their primary content format rather than a secondary one. Practically, this means: producing Reels that open with a strong, specific hook in the first 1 to 3 seconds; creating content that viewers are likely to share via DM (since sends are the highest-value algorithm signal); committing to 2 to 3 clear content pillars for topical consistency; posting 3 to 5 times per week; using keyword-rich captions for Instagram’s SEO-based discovery system; and limiting hashtags to 3 to 5 highly relevant ones. Brands should also use Trial Reels to test experimental content and Early Access Reels to reward existing followers.
Q10: Does Instagram still support photo posts?
Yes. Adam Mosseri has repeatedly stated that photos remain part of Instagram’s product and that the main feed of static posts is not being removed. Instagram continues to support photo posts, carousels, and Stories. However, Reels generate substantially higher average reach rates than photos, and the platform’s navigation and recommendation systems increasingly favor video content. Photo posts remain viable — particularly carousel formats, which generate strong save rates and can be reshown to users who did not see all slides — but brands relying exclusively on photos are operating with a measurable reach disadvantage.
Q11: What are the most important ranking signals for Instagram Reels in 2025?
The three primary ranking signals for Instagram Reels are: watch time (specifically completion rate and rewatch behavior), DM sends and shares (the highest-value engagement signal), and likes per reach (engagement rate relative to impressions). Secondary signals include saves, comments, early engagement velocity in the first hour after posting, and topic clarity — how well Instagram’s algorithm can categorize the content into specific interest areas.
Q12: What is Instagram’s Reels ad revenue?
In October 2025, Mark Zuckerberg announced during Meta’s Q3 earnings call that Reels across Instagram and Facebook had surpassed a $50 billion annual run rate. In 2025, more than 50% of all Instagram ads ran on Reels, up from 35% in 2024, according to Sensor Tower. Reels ad volume grew 35% year-over-year. This represents a significant shift: in 2023, Zuckerberg described Reels as monetizing at a much lower rate than the main feed. The $50 billion run rate demonstrates that the monetization gap has been substantially closed through scale and improved ad matching.
Q13: Is the Instagram Reels redesign rolled out globally?
As of early 2026, the specific “Your Feeds” center design documented by @howfxr is still in testing and has not been confirmed for a global rollout. However, the broader navigation bar changes announced by Adam Mosseri in September 2025 — placing Reels and DMs in the primary navigation row — were rolled out to most users by December 2025. The “Your Algorithm” feature launched in December 2025 and is being rolled out progressively. Instagram’s general practice is to test features with smaller user groups before expanding to the full user base.
Q14: What does Instagram’s Reels-first design mean for small businesses?
For small businesses, the Reels-first design update is an opportunity, not a threat. Reels favor content quality and relevance over account size: a small account producing high-quality, niche-specific video content can achieve significant reach through the Suggested feed, which surfaces content based on interest matching rather than follower count. The 30.81% average reach rate for Reels, combined with the ability to appear in non-followers’ feeds via recommendations, gives small businesses a realistic path to audience growth that photo-centric strategies do not provide with the same efficiency.
Where This Leaves Every Brand on Instagram
Instagram’s Reels-first design update is the most direct signal yet that the platform’s product team is building toward an experience where short-form video is the default — not a feature within a broader photo-sharing app, but the primary lens through which users encounter Instagram’s content.
The data trail is unambiguous: 50% of global time-on-app spent on Reels, 3.5 billion Reels reshared daily, a $50 billion annual ad run rate, a 30.81% average reach rate that nearly doubles what photos achieve, and a CEO who attributed the platform’s growth to three things — Reels, DMs, and recommendations. The “Your Feeds” center and the “Your Algorithm” feature extend this trajectory by giving users both a Reels-centered navigation experience and direct control over which creators and topics appear in their feeds.
For brands, the practical implication is a content strategy reorientation. Reels need to be treated with the same seriousness as any other primary marketing channel: consistent production, clear briefs, strong hooks, measurable objectives, and regular performance reviews. The brands that build that infrastructure now — while many competitors are still treating Reels as supplementary — will be the ones with established audiences, algorithm trust, and proven content formats when the design change reaches full rollout.
Instagram has not abandoned photos, and it likely will not. But it has made its priorities clear through its product decisions, its navigation design, and its revenue data. Short-form video is where Instagram’s present and near-term future is anchored. Brands that align with that reality will find a platform that rewards consistency, quality, and niche authority. Those that do not will find their reach narrowing steadily with each algorithm update.
About ALM Corp
ALM Corp is a full-service digital marketing agency helping brands build measurable social media presence across every major platform. As Instagram continues its shift toward a Reels-first experience, ALM Corp’s social media team works with businesses to develop short-form video strategies that are grounded in platform data, not guesswork — from Reels production and content planning to Instagram ad management and algorithm-informed campaign strategy. Whether you are building your first Reels strategy or looking to scale an existing one, ALM Corp partners with you at every stage of the process. Visit www.almcorp.com to learn how we can support your brand’s growth on Instagram and beyond.
